@ Jane: Above all, I look for a well-written book and logical plot (even in a paranormal, putting aside that aspect of it, everything within that setting needs to make sense to me.) If it’s got gazillionairesses, good for them! If it has a poor second son who is out to make something of himself, good for him, too. I don’t like to be hit over the head over and over with how rich a character is, or how much on the brink of debtor’s prison. It ought to be part of the story, but not in the forefront. In a romance novel, the romance part is the bit that I buy that particular book for

BTW, to add to the TBR list: I think Cecelia Grant dealt nicely with the general poverty of the rural folk in her first book – A Lady Awakened.

You definitely hit the nail on the head for me. I’m not at all interested in billionaires or dukes, it takes a lot for me to read one with that theme. I’d rather see a more varied set of people, & certainly more of the ‘loser’ heroes who are blue collar.

Did anybody confront the poster about calling blue collar workers ‘losers’?

Meanwhile there are tons of little match girl heroines running around who either don’t have a job or want one that’s beneath them, have one but are teetering on the edge of poverty, or worse have one that pays well but can’t balance a check book ($400 shoes but they can’t pay the rent in their two bedroom apt they live in alone). But they’re not losers. No they’re just hidden gems and undiscovered princesses just waiting for a billionaire or Duke to swoop in and recognize their true worth and shower them with vacations, jewels and houses.

It’s the ever popular Cinderella theme and readers just eat it up or it wouldn’t be so very popular. I’m bored to death by it. A book has to really be recommended as something special to me now if I’m to stomach another billionaire or Duke. How ludicrous that even Earls and Viscounts aren’t good enough for governesses, prostitutes or seamstresses any more – let alone a mere barrister, shopkeeper, merchant or bailiff. And heaven for fend that a heroine actually “marry down” in class or economic scale, even if she has a huge dowry because even ladies and heiresses need a “prince”.

More than wanting to see more impoverished heroines I want ones that can support themselves and not waiting for a man who represents winning the lottery’s cash jackpot. Or a book like Morning Glory where they work together to make a better life. Or even more like the aforementioned Practice Makes Perfect

Yes having characters portrayed realistically in terms of their career and place in life is important. I didn’t mind in Practice Makes Perfect when he splurges on a hotel room because he’s a corporate lawyer about to make partner – it’s extravagant but he can afford it as can she and it’s not out of the realm of reality. It was also refreshing that they were career equals. But if he was a lawyer who’s a public defender or ADA who’s not making much and had a tons of student debt it would be ludicrous.

Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects?
Thanks!

lj: Hate to tell you, that’s not how they measure poverty in the US and those types of things aren’t taken into account for the poverty statistics but you go ahead and tell yourself that if it helps you sleep better at night.In the meantime, there are children going without meals in a country that is “supposed” to be one of the wealthiest in the world.

Any Carla Kelly book, admittedly historicals, deal with people with limited means. Some richer, some destitute, but a very real world.

I find it interesting that I can read a Regency about the filthy rich and enjoy it, but couldn’t stomach the same wealth in a contemporary setting.

I think it’s all about escape. I’m a bankruptcy lawyer…

Aside from the pointed jab against the liberal arts & the working class in this comment log, I found all the conversation to be very enjoyable. I can understand why someone would want less realism, but as an avid reader of many genres & nonfiction, I would like to see reality reflected in romance a bit more often than it currently is. Even in other genres, such as literary fiction (which is a genre despite popular opinion), it’s usually written about comfortable middle or upper class white males.
Movies are usually made about the well off, or when it’s about working class people, it’s usually crime related.

Uh no. Not everyone. There are people who don’t have mortgages. Who don’t have credit cards OR people who have stable mortgages and have never been late. Do they deserve the current economy?

Wow is your logic ever screwed.

In the meantime, there are children going without meals in a country that is “supposed” to be one of the wealthiest in the world.

That probably just blows your mind, doesn’t it?

Personally I don’t mind tales of the uber-rich or of those who are struggling and make it. My personal bugbear is people who act as though they are rich but have no visible means of support.

So I went back in my reading log and found of the last 185 romances I read, I have noted two as being unrealistic on the financial front and twenty as dealing with it specifically. Of course in most cases I wasn’t looking for it so I didn’t note it.

• Taming an Impossible Rogue – Suzanne Enoch (2012 – Regency) – the hero is living very simply and is offered a fortune that will allow him to fulfil his obligations so he does things he would never otherwise have done for the money.
• Making Waves – Tawna Fenske (2011 – Contemporary) – the hero and his friends are trying to recover after losing their jobs and life savings
• Skin Heat – Ava Gray (2011 – Paranormal) – the hero lives on a dirt poor subsistence farm who takes a menial job to keep the lights on. The heroine is a vet who struggles to keep her practice in the black.
• Fate’s Edge – Illona Andrews (2011 – Paranormal) – the heroine is very careful about her money and gets dragged into her family’s cons
• Just a Cowboy – Rachel Lee (2011 – Contemporary) – hero is a cowboy who can only get work some of the time and rehabs the house next door when he can’t.
• A Beginner’s Guide to Rakes – Suzanne Enoch (2011 – Regency) – both hero and heroine take some fairly scandalous action out of financial desperation
• Bone Deep – Janice Kay Johnson (2011 – Romantic Suspense) – a murder on the premises affects the financial security of the heroine’s business
• Silk is for Seduction – Loretta Chase (2011 – Regency) – the heroine is trying to keep her luxury dress shop alive and a fire devastates the business
• How to bake a perfect life – Barbara O’Neal (2011 – Women’s Fiction) – heroine is struggling to keep her bakery afloat
• Cheri on Top – Susan Donovan (2011 – Contemporary) – heroine has lost everything in the real estate market crash
• A Hellion in Her Bed – Sabrina Jefferies (2010 – Regency) – both hero and heroine are struggling with the outlook for the brewery business in a downturn
• Like No Other Lover – Julie Anne Long (2008 – Regency) – The heroine is utterly desperate for a husband because she knows if she doesn’t find one in a matter of weeks she will be on the streets in Regency England and she had few illusions about what that would be like.
• Double Vision – Fiona Brand (2008 – Romatic Suspense) – The heroine’s parents get mixed up with criminals because their business was in financial trouble.
• Cutting loose – Susan Anderson (2008 – Contemporary) – the heroine and her friends are trying to juggle and inheritance and juggling financial decisions such as whether to get a new security system
• After the kiss – Suzanne Enoch (2008 – Regency) – the hero is a horse trader and makes a lot of business decisions around who’s likely to buy his horses.
• The Firebrand – Susan Wiggs (2001 – Historical) – the heroine is trying to find a loan to keep her bookshop from going under.
• The Mistress – Susan Wiggs (2000 – Historical) – the heroine is a servant girl whose family comes from the slums and the hero is a con man who has been living hand-to-mouth. Each think they have it made when they think the other is rich.
• Waiting For The Moon – Kirsten Hannah (1995 – Historical) – the heroine’s first husband joined a religious community in order to have a roof over their head
• The Christmas Tart – Mary Jo Putney (1992 – Regency) – the heroine loses her savings and becomes the hero’s mistress
• Web of Love – Mary Balogh (1990 – Regency) – The heroine’s husband talks to her about financial matters before he goes off to battle and the arrangements he has made for her and her daughter.